Shubman Gill and Sai Sudharsan added to their remarkable consistency as an opening pair with a record seventh century partnership, fueling Gujarat Titans to 229 for four against Chennai Super Kings on a true batting surface in the Indian Premier League here on Thursday. Titans skipper Gill (64 off 37) displayed sublime touch from ball one, toying with left-arm pacer Spencer Johnson in the powerplay.
Sudharsan Joins Elite List
Gill got his fifty off 23 balls while Sudharsan (84 off 53) reached the milestone off 35 balls, his fifth consecutive half-century. Gill scored the bulk of the runs in their 125-run stand off 74 balls. This was Sai Sudharsan’s fifth straight half-century. Before him, Virender Sehwag was the only Indian batsman to slam five half-centuries in a row in the IPL (in 2012). Among overseas players, Jos Buttler (2018) and david warner (2019) have also achieved the feat.
The range of boundaries Gill picked up off a wayward Johnson was a masterclass in batting. He mixed minimum muscle with trademark elegance to get the desired results.
His fours off Johnson included a cut off the Australian’s very first ball before the Indian star used his crease against the left-arm pacer to collect boundaries at will. The straight drive in the same over was the most majestic of them all.
When Noor Ahmed was brought into the attack post powerplay that yielded 62 runs, Gill did not allow him to settle, slog-sweeping him for a couple of sixes.
Gill-Sudharsan The Hit Duo
The 100-run partnership for the seventh time was brought up soon after, surpassing the pairs of David Warner and Shikhar Dhawan,and Travis Head and Abhishek Sharmawho have forged six century stands each in the IPL. Star RCB opening duos Virat Kohli/Faf du Plessis (5)and chris gayle/Virat Kohli (4) are also in the elite list of multiple century opening stands.
Both the openers were hardly troubled as Titans cruised to 111 for no loss in 10 overs.
After Gill’s departure, Sudharsan and Jos Buttler (57 not out off 27) maintained the same tempo to take Titans well past 200.
Sudharsan played with minimum risk as he often does. In the penultimate over, he picked a wide low full toss off. Anshul Kamboj over point for a spectacular six.
Buttler too was in full flow and collected as many as four sixes, two coming off Noor.
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